Erotic Virgin of Nuremberg
bronze and iron
beautiful patina and very good condition
wear on the patina
Early 19th century Germany
Height : 12.5 cm

instrument of torture used by the witch hunters in the late 18th century, the iron maiden is presented as a type of sarcophagi of wood or steel in which the victim was standing. Sharp peaks being arranged on the inner walls and on the lid, pierced the victim at the close of the mechanism that could generally be padlocked. These spikes were often arranged to puncture the victim without causing immediate death to make the torture long and painful.

According to some historians, the first iron maiden allegedly manufactured by the German Johann Philipp Siebenkees, which would have designed " the Virgin of Nuremberg " in 1793. One of these books, he would have inspired a similar tool used in the 16th century, " Schandmantel " (mantle of shame). The latter is usually a box made of wood and tin, but had no inside edge and served only to humiliate criminals.

Misc. Antiques and Curiosities